A Good Man Is Hard To Find Analytical Essay

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” a story unfolds of crossed path with a couple of grandkids, some parents, an escaped convict, and a terribly racist grandmother. While making a trip down memory lane the grandmother truly discovers what it means to judge a book solely on its cover and the effects of her racist mindset. The grandmother’s obsession with the appearance of herself and others stems from her racist upbringing. The grandmother’s racist demeanor plays a huge role in the dynamic of this story and how it contributes to her obsession with appearances. In the beginning she sees an African American boy with no trousers and says “Wouldn’t that make a nice picture? If I could paint, Id paint that picture (O’Connor 23)”. This shows that she enjoys depicting the boy as dirty and poor. She also at the end of the story she tells the Misfit “You don’t look a bit like you have common blood. I know you must come from nice people (O’Connor, 25)”. Assuming he is only good because of how he looks even though he is an escaped convict. She is racist due the fact that she only perceives people as good when they look a certain way. The grandmother also has an obsession with appearances, this includes people, things and herself. As the family drives around she is constantly pointing out meticulous details of the …show more content…
She is so concerned with everyone’s appearances, including her own. She assumes everyone who shares a similar trait, which is color, they are automatically good. As she is talking to Red Sammy, a noticeably not-so-great man, “You are a good man! (O’Connor)”. He is a white person, so in her brain, she is conditioned to think he is good. White people were good, and black was bad in her day and she hasn’t let that go. It’s about how people perceive you physically and not with